June 5, 2022
RAPTOR’S RECIPE FOR SOUP SUCCESS
As every professional cook will testify, quality always tastes better. For Dutch food start-up Soupy, its slow-cooked stock is the new company’s secret sauce to success and unsurpassed taste. To support this quality focus, the fresh soup manufacturer opted for the very best inspection ingredient – a Raptor Combination Metal Detector and Checkweigher from Fortress Technology.
Leaving nothing to chance, including quality control and dosing, local food equipment manufacturer and Fortress distributor, Jansen Control Systems, introduced Soupy to the Raptor Combination unit. A checkweigher and metal detector in one, the award winning system immediately fulfilled the IFS and BRC requirements for the ambitious new food producer.
Despite its early start – Soupy was only founded at the end of 2021 – the Soup with a Smile brand is gaining fast attention across Europe. Already stocked on the shelves of two large retail chains in The Netherlands, preliminary talks are already underway with potential suppliers in Belgium. Professional from the start with a mission to “provide a fresh and healthy alternative to canning”, one thing Soupy doesn’t lack is the ambition to make a difference.
Soupy Director Jan Schipper explains: “Ask any cook, the basis for a good soup is a good stock. If you let delicious fresh vegetables steep overnight and cook them slowly, you retain all the fibers, minerals and vitamins and get a purer and more natural taste. Without any e-numbers or flavor enhancers.”
Highest standards from the start
Located in Oud Beijerland, the 100% natural soup brand instantly established its production protocols to meet the food safety requirements set by IFS and BRC. It meant an extra step in quality control for Schipper.
Although the large stainless steel soup kettles posed little risk, the food company sought assurance that no metal contamination could end up in its soups. Simultaneously, the company also wanted to ensure that customers receive the volume of soup promised to them. The Raptor checkweigher contained within the small footprint system verifies that the filling machine is dosing correctly.
Soupy approached Jansen Control Systems to arrive at the best value technical solution. “Good cleanability was a basic requirement. Electronics, sensors … they can be sensitive to water, but we still need to be able to clean the machine and belt perfectly, while everything continues to work as it should,” Schipper summarizes.
A fully integrated metal detection and checkweighing system, the Fortress Raptor Combination unit delivered on all counts. Standing out for its robust design, this combination unit has a weighing range up to 8 kg, a single user-friendly HMI, plus an easy cleaning conveyor to maintain perfect hygiene.
Delivering ‘best value’
In addition to meeting the Raptor promise of the best price to performance and quality ratio, fully integrated software ensures that every Code of Practice is met.
Schipper comments: “Thanks to the user-friendly HMI and installation support, our production team quickly mastered the operation of the Raptor. We especially value the pre-set automatic test procedures that provides feedback to our quality manager. It automatically meets the requirements set by large retail chains as standard.”
Installed towards the end of 2021, several fine tuning adjustments were performed to ensure the speed of the Raptor inspections matched the pace of the filling station and application of the packaging lid, reports Soupy’s Head of Production Jan Visser. The Raptor reject mechanism was also adapted so that the pots of soup fall only 30 cm deep. Minimizing any risk of spillage.
Expressing absolute satisfaction with their investment, Visser adds: “This is not a machine that makes soup, but we are completely reliant on the Raptor Combination system to fulfil our quality guarantee for consumers. No rejects is testament that it is quietly and reliably doing its job.”
Having mastered the machine well, Jan is already keen to optimize efficiency as Soupy’s production speed ramps up. “Further training will help us to explore the additional Raptor options. There are several ‘bells and whistles’ features we haven’t yet begun to utilize, but we are already thinking about how these can be adapted to our Soupy production environment moving forward,” concludes Schipper.
